Gov’t won’t introduce new taxes in the budget – Thomas Ampem

The government has allayed fears of new taxes in the upcoming budget, despite concerns raised by the Minority.

Deputy Finance Minister-designate, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, has assured that the government will not introduce new taxes, instead focusing on improving tax compliance and expanding the tax base.

According to Ampem, “The Finance Minister has said this many times—we do not need to introduce new taxes to rake in more revenue. We are going to broaden the tax base. We are actually going to enhance compliance.” He emphasized that the government’s strategy is to strengthen domestic revenue mobilization without burdening citizens with new taxes.

The Minority had claimed that the government planned to impose new taxes to generate about 200 billion cedis this year. However, Ampem dismissed these concerns, stating that the government is committed to maximizing economic rent from industries, given Ghana’s limited access to international bond markets.

“In fact, as a country, we are not taking advantage of the economic rent that we are supposed to generate revenue from through the exploiting of industry… To be honest with you, because we have been denied access to the international bond market, we have to do two things—enhance revenue and also manage expenditure,” Ampem explained.

The budget, set to be presented to Parliament on March 11, is expected to reflect the government’s commitment to economic resilience, social progress, and shared prosperity.